Last week to visit Conservatory at Assiniboine Park before demolition

If you're feeling like spring hasn't sprung and need a breath of moist garden air before the warm weather hits, it's your last week to do so.

The Conservatory at Assiniboine Park, the lush, humid — and important for many Winnipeg residents and winter visitors, warm — indoor horticultural attraction, is more than a century old. It has exceeded its lifespan and must be demolished to make way for the final phase of the park's $200-million redevelopment.

This week is the last chance for Winnipeggers to share their memories of the old building, said Gerald Dieleman, project Director for the new Diversity Gardens, which will replace the Conservatory.

"It's not an efficient building anymore," said Dieleman. "We know that it is a refuge in the winter so we wanted to make sure we were still open this winter, but it's a tough building to maintain and there are challenges with it, sort of in the back of the house part that you don't see."

That's not to say that breath of tropical air in January won't happen again — the new Diversity Gardens has put shovel to ground — but it will be at least a couple of winters before the new greenhouse opens, with a hoped-for opening date in 2020.

While many of the plants can't be saved or transplanted into the new building, that doesn't mean they're all destined for the compost heap, said Dieleman.

"Some of the smaller material, we can use in the tropical house in Tucan Ridge [at Assiniboine Park Zoo]," he said. Other material will be used in various buildings in the zoo, and the trees, which can't be moved, will be turned over to local artisans for wood-turning and other projects.

The Norfolk Pine, which is the largest specimen and a favourite of staff and visitors alike, also can't be saved, but the staff are hoping to propagate it somehow, said Dieleman.

"It's a bittersweet moment, because there's an attachment to the building, the place, the memories, the plants and then caring for them."

It's a bittersweet moment, because there's an attachment to the building, the place, the memories, the plants and then caring for them.- Gerald Dieleman

This past weekend, people shared their memories of the Conservatory with CBC's Information Radio.

"I just like looking at the plants, the flowers," said Jim Roy. "If I come with the grandkids and the great-grandkids, they like the turtles and the fish."

"I used to bring the kids when they were little, especially in the wintertime, just to get out," said Noreen Colasare. "One of the big things was we always looked for the bananas in the banana trees. There's no bananas there today."

From Tuesday through the following Monday, April 2, the team is having a celebration in the Conservatory, said Dieleman. 

The group will have displays where people have shared their memories, and Winnipeggers are invited to view it daily from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

"It's been a lot of fun collecting stories and people sharing their memories," said Dieleman.

What are your memories of the Conservatory at Assiniboine Park? Share your thoughts and photos by emailing them to talkback@cbc.ca.